Wolf and Guardians of Magic
by Love Monkey
Summary: Yuna encounters a old childhood friend, but with his shocking news, they don't have much time to chatter. They're adventure embarks Yuna on a quest to save her life. Please R+R!!


Guardians of Magic ~ Final Fantasy  
  
A beautiful day in the small and peaceful Besaid Village. Located about the edge of a grassy mountain along the shores of a vast beach, the sun shimmered brightly into the huts of the area and a breeze cut through the air. The women and men of the land were dark haired and tall, and both genders were clad in their own unique clothing. Ranging from acorn colored swimwear to richly hued robes and pointed hats. Each style was different and stitched for outdoor use and everyone was either footed with sandels or no shoes at all.  
  
A young man, clad in a black cloak, unknown to Besaid, strode along the dusty mountain trail leading to the village. He stopped before the gates, which were open widely, and glanced about. Two single pillars, congruent in shape, size, and even design were rooted into the ground with a single zig-zag line deeply carved near the top. They were shaped into an smooth cone, like a peg of stone. Though the bottom was stained with the dust, or perhaps a vague corrosion, the tips of the pillars looked recently carved and brand-new, polished and gleaming against the sun's rays. They stood tall and strong as the entrance to the village. Gray weather-stained stone walls, standing man-high, cast outward for several yards as the border of the village, mainly to act as a sight for lost strangers of the island.  
  
Stepping along, the man in black felt a hard surface below his travel- stained boots as his tread suddenly clacked softly against the surface. He cast his eyes downward and took knowledge that the small village was infact, placed upon solid gravel, dusted with sand that caught itself in the wind. A golden circle of sand, traced with polished marble, was embedded in the center of Besaid, and caught the eye of the stranger.  
  
He sped along. The sharp wind stirred his cloak briskly. Occasionally, the man would shift his head to either direction and examine the few tents or huts securely spiked to the ground. They, like their owners, were also crafted with designs of cloth that draped among their bodies and flaunted them like large glimmering rainbows. Swaying palm trees planted aside the road also stood brisking along the wing. Many villagers eyed the man and pointed curiously in his direction. He caught the muttering sounds of talk that applied to him, but said nothing of it.  
  
He halted along the brim of the golden circle and glanced upward at a vast blue-stoned dome which had people entering and exiting casually. A large arch-shaped roof was rooted upon many tall pillars that filtered onto a well-placed platform, creating a terrace which gradually ascended up richly carved steps, below the roof and into the building. It was of incredible craftsmanship and carpentry.  
  
The man couldn't guess what was inside, so he did not bother visiting. Instead, he focused his attention to his left: on a tent that was used as a Rest Area. Treading lightly, he made his way over to the mark; the curtain, intended for the doorway, fluttered with the wind as he entered. Silence fell as he cast his lengthy bangs away from his eyes and gazed about the room. A round area, decked with shelves of fishing gear and travel-wear, looking as though he stepped into a market, rather a Rest Area. Across the room he saw a bar, clad with two people, a man and woman, and many mugs of drink. The man, supposedly the bartender, was whiping out bowls with a rag. He smiled under a face of white hair and gave a friendly nod. However, The Stranger's face, lightly tanned and noble, lit up and his emerald-colored eyes glimmered as they set sight upon the woman.  
  
Alone, she sat at the bar. Beauty was her intent; her face was fair and honest, with her brown hair parted neatly down the middle, fixed above her shoulders and her skin was soft and firm; only her ears were pierced with lengthy blue, beady earrings. She had seated herself upon a stool with her legs curled and draped beneith. She appeared tired and listless. The young girl was clad in a white velvet cloth, posing as a shirt which adopted no sleeves, but wrapped gently around her neck. It clothed over a dark undershirt ,which was view only as a single black lace across her back. She was clad into a yellow cloth that glimmered with pink flowers and green leaves stitched into the soft material. It wrapped tightly around her stomach, flaunting her nimble figure, and into a large bow from behind. Though she wore no sleeves, the woman was outfitted congruently with sheets of snow-white material that gradually blended into a tropical pink and then a beautiful shade of amethyst. They were laced securely with a glittering purple string above her elbows, allowing the wings to drift freely down her firm arms, but did not burden her hands. Her legs, long and slender, were clad in a dress of deep purple, arrayed with lighter designs of silver leaves bunched on a single stock, sewn vertically into the dress. Long ridges were formed in the cloth, and allowed an agreeing fluttering movement that paced with her tread. High dark boots, she wore, used for both looks and for travel. They drove upward into her dress, hiding away their true length.  
  
The man's shaggy, dark bangs swayed to and forth as he slowly trotted and seated himself next to the girl, the tip of a golden sword sheath scraped the floor. He produced a round cantine and a gil and set them upon the barstand.  
  
"Water." he said deeply, sliding the gil towards the bartender.  
  
"You got it!" he replied, taking the coin into his grasp, and retreating to his sink.  
  
He turned his back, but sounds of a few ice cubes were heard clinking into the mug and the man returned shortly after with a glass of crystal clear water. The stranger nodded to the man, and steadily poured the water into his cantine, sliding the mug back to it's owner. He then shoved it back into his cloak, right alongside his waist where it was.  
  
"Well, you're the first I've seen to not drink when given." said The Bartender; "But I guess it's because you ain't orderin' ale, eh?"  
  
"lussuh." muttered the man in return, turning his eyes away. The Bartender snorted and turned his back again, going about cleaning the dirty dishes in the sink.  
  
"yma lyh gemm oui, my fro pudran?" He questioned to himself. The girl beside him caught the vaguely spoken sentence and turned to the man, suddenly perked with energy.  
  
"That voice..." She thought. "Excuse me?" she asked him. "I couldn't help but to notice, but was that The Al Bhed Language? Are you Al Bhed, sir?"  
  
The grim man turned his glance to the feminine beauty, his keen eyes hidden away by the cloak, and he noticed she had two different colored eyes: One green and one blue. "Yes, and no. But who wants to know?" he inquired.  
  
"Forgive me. My name is Yuna." she introduced. "And what's your name be?"  
  
"They call me ... Ivan." he replied. "For further elaboration on your questions, no, I'm not Al Bhed but I do speak the languages, for I had to learn them as a child. Why did you want to know?"  
  
"It's not him." she thought to herself, but snapped to the attention of the man's question. "I have a young friend who is Al Bhed, so I thought maybe perhaps you know her." said Yuna, who was becoming more interested in the man. She smiled. "So, what brings you to Besaid Village, Ivan?"  
  
"I am investigating." Ivan replied, whipping out his cantine and sipping from it. "I'm what you call a Nyhkan. A hunter that scouts the world's lands, traveling from island to island by ship. This one is by far the most beautiful. My, how -your- beauty shows as I speak to you.  
  
Yuna turned her head away, shielding from the man, the sudden redness coloring itself in her cheeks. She shifted back around, twisting her body around to face Stag. She smiled.  
  
"You're kind."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
A breif silence befell them, but soon after a moment, The young woman spoke. "You sound very familair. Don't think I am weird or anything, but like a long lost friend." Yuna blunted. "Oh my, I'm sorry."  
  
"It's okay." grinned Ivan. The grin sprouted into a laugh.  
  
"What's so funny?" She inquired.  
  
"You have seen me before."  
  
"I have?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The man stood upright from his stool. He was tall and muscular. He slowly threw back the hood of his cloak. Yuna sat in aghast, having to maintain her self control to keep from falling from her stool. A man that she has known for several years but were always apart had come together with her once again.  
  
"Wolf?!" Yuna cried out. Her eyes glittered with excitement. He spoke not a word as she leaped up and embraced him with a firm hug.  
  
"Yes. It is I, Wolf, The son of the famous hunter you sent to the Farplane, after he was killed by Sin in Kilika." Then he smiled, "And friend of you.  
  
'However, It's not coincidence that we meet here once again, Daughter of Braska." Wolf sighed, and stood firmly on his feet. "My instincts brought me to you in hopes of warning you."  
  
"Warning me?" asked Yuna. The sudden surprise wasn't enough to break the precious feelings of seeing an old friend again, but she listened to him carefully.  
  
"Yes, come, I will explain on the way to safety."  
  
"But, Lulu and Wakka, their..."  
  
"Not here, are they? Come on!" cried The Hunter.  
  
The young woman agreed and took Wolf's hand. The old bartender waved good-bye as the two darted out of the hut and out into the beaming sun. His pace was swift and proved hard for Yuna to keep up with, even clasped to his hand. They dashed through the golden circle and out of the village borders, but not before Wolf bent to the ground and noticed familair tracks embedded in the sand that were not present before he arrived.  
  
"They're in this village, right now." Wolf informed his female companion.  
  
"What? Who is they?" asked Yuna.  
  
"Come!" cried The Hunter, seeming to ignore her question.  
  
They bolted out of the borders of Besaid. Along the rocky mountain trail and against the western wind, they ran. Both, the cloak of Wolf, and the fluttering wings and dress of Yuna stirred abruptly in the breeze. A wall of rock towered leftly into open air, and up a steep hill. An imcompletely built fence of rope was to their right. The winding road slightly curved this way and that and then steadily northeast. Gradually, the palm trees thinned and the trail reached an open area of brown rock, completely treeless and empty, cloven to two paths: west on a different trail that lead down the mountain into regions Wolf, nor Yuna had never explored, and northwest, that continued on to the shores of the island. Yuna jerked her hand from Wolf and they came to a sudden stop. She glared at him, demanding answers to her questions, and why they left the village in such a hurried manner. He reluctently agreed to answer.  
  
"They're hunters, a small band armed in productive gear and machina guns. They believe that summoners are the bane of existance and they summon only to kill with their Aeons." said Wolf. "They are not ones to be underestimated, for I, myself have fought with them before."  
  
"Don't they know the true reason behind the will of The Summoner?" asked Yuna; "And why the Aeons exist?"  
  
"You think they actually would want to talk about it? They're two kinds of Hunters, Yuna: csynd and tisp."  
  
"And that means?"  
  
"Smart and dumb." replied The Hunter.  
  
At that moment, blasts of rifles rang out and sprayed the inclinded rock with metal below their feet. Wolf and Yuna glanced southbound and their eyes widened to the sight. Six light-haired men flowed gently from the trail, and as the cloak-clad man described, they were clad in tight blue jumpsuits with an irregularly shaped symbol of a bear imbued on the chest. Dark boots and gloves were seen on there bodies as well The men were armed with polished, silver machina rifles. They were hoisted against the mens' shoulders and were anxious for a victim.  
  
"Looks like we found 'em." chuckled one of the men.  
  
"Yeah, and about time too." replied another. "That wolf-man ain't easy to catch."  
  
Wolf thrust his arms outward and used himself as a body-shield to Yuna's protection. He spoke grimly. "If you're after me, then leave this girl out of this. There's no need to fight. We can solve this without violence and everyone can go home unscathed."  
  
One of the men stepped forwarded and fired a shot into the ground aside his foot. Sadly, it was the wordless way of disagreement. "We're after both of you. You think we're just gonna let you go after our last battle? Think again! You killed three of our men."  
  
"It was in self-defense and you know that." argued Wolf. "This woman is innocent. Please leave her be."  
  
Yuna peered over The Hunter's shoulder and gazed upon their opposers. They showed no sign of retreating or any mercy for Wolf's words. They fired more shot directly at the two, and Yuna ducked behind, but Wolf thrust out his arms and the bullets repelled in all directions, and revealed a round shield of pale invisible light surrounding his body.  
  
"Learned some new spells since our last battle, haven't you?" cried the first hunter.  
  
"You haven't seen nothing yet. Get ready!"  
  
The shield dismayed and Wolf pulled his hand to his face, two fingers extended, and blue sparkles surrounded his glove. He thrust it out and a large explosion of blue fire dispatched two of the hunters back towards the trail, one slamming abruptly into the edge of the clove and the other tumbling out of sight back down the steep hill they followed. At this, Yuna bolted off along the intended path, and Wolf trailed as their enemies were in awe at the incredible magic power, gazing back at their allies.  
  
The trees thickens once again along the road. It curved northbound and under a vast portion of machina above the trees. It was aged and abandoned however, and was hard to tell if it were a building or machine as large tree roots stuck through it's round body and draped near the ground and pillars of metal had fallen off to the dirt aside the trail. The two racers paid no attention as they bolted under the establishment above their heads, and swayed along the trail, coming across another piece of the roped fence to their right. However, beyond it laid the ocean. The rock wall crept vaguely over the road and bushed out into green and trees and the rushing sounds of water filled the air as they encountered two waterfalls gushing along the vast wall of rock and deluged into the ocean far down below.  
  
Wolf lead Yuna up along an inclinded wooden bridge, small and rigid, and onto a small piece of green land between the waterfalls. They turned their glances back along the trail and saw their enemies pacing steadily behind, with their guns to their waists and vengeful looks upon their gruff faces. They halted to a vantage and fired accurate shots above their heads. Quick thinking and instinct got the best of The Hunter, however, as he grasped Yuna by the hand, and actually leaped with a swift step off the piece of land. Yuna cried out in fear as their bodies flew terrifyingly fast towards the waters below. A loud splash exploded from the ocean, and all around the young Summoner fell silent. 


End file.
